Republicans in Georgia are building a legal defense fund for the false electors who stood for former President Donald Trump in the state in 2020, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday — a group that includes several party operatives, and former state GOP chair David Shafer.
According to AJC reporter Greg Bluestein, Georgia Republicans have sent out several fundraising pitches for the fund, and the Banks County Republican Party is holding a $400-a-plate barbecue and silent auction fundraiser that will go to support Shafer, State Sen. Shawn Still, and activist Cathy Latham, all of whom are being prosecuted as part of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' election racketeering case.
That event will host several pro-Trump heavyweights, including Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, another fake elector who is being investigated by a separate entity after Willis was barred from probing him due to a conflict of interest, and Kandiss Taylor, a former GOP gubernatorial candidate who toured the state in a "Jesus, Guns, Babies" bus, promotes the QAnon movement, and believes the Earth is flat.
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“We will fight against those who want to destroy the legal system that has been the envy of western democratic governments in service of their personal political agenda,” said an email sent out by Josh McKoon, the new party chairman who succeeded Shafer.
According to the report, the Georgia GOP has already spent $522,000 on legal fees for 10 of the 16 fake electors. At least some of them have accepted immunity agreements, but several more are still being prosecuted.
In addition to the fake electors, the RICO case focuses on former President Donald Trump's phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger demanding he "find" extra votes, the intimidation of poll workers, and a breach of election equipment in Coffee County apparently done with the participation of Trump loyalist attorney Sidney Powell. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in his efforts to overturn the election result in Georgia and continues to maintain, falsely, he was the rightful winner of the state in 2020.
